Genesis 1/20/2018

GENESIS

January 20, 2018

By Pastor Kim Hickcox

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

The rest of Genesis, chapters 39-50, are dedicated to Joseph in Egypt and show us crystal clear examples of Romans 8:28 “And we know that, for those who love God, He works all things for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”, and Hebrews 13:5 “…For He said, ‘I will not abandon you and I will not ever forsake you,’⁶so that we are confident to say, ‘The Lord is my helper, and I shall not be afraid, what will man do to me?’” Yes I added verse 6 – it is so apropos and Paul was quoting Psalm 118:7 which again show us the timelessness of God’s Truth!

“And Joseph was brought down to Egypt and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hands of the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down there. ²And the LORD was with Joseph and he was a successful man and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to succeed in his hand.⁴And Joseph found favor in his sight, and he served him and made him an overseer over his house, and he put everything he had into his hand. ⁵And it was from the time that he had made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake, and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. ⁶And he left all the he had in Joseph’s hand and he did not know anything he had, except the bread which he ate. And Joseph was good looking and well favored.” Genesis 39:1-6

In this introductory passage in to what we eventually see is the remainder of Joseph’s life (spent in Egypt from age 17 to 110), we see both Hebrews 13:5-6 and Romans 8:28 come to fruition. And those of us who have sent a lot of time in church have heard that one of Y’shua’s names is the Son of Joseph: Son of God, Son of David, Son of Man and Son of Joseph. But where did this title of His come from? Was it just because he, Joseph, was a classic Old Testament symbol of Y’shua due to his constant favor, unjust punishment, final triumph and forgiveness?

Well, I have found an incredible teaching on this that I am going to share from pages 1785-1786 of the Glossary in my One New Man Bible:

“Jewish teachings tell us the there is a Son of Joseph as a Messianic figure. The Son of Joseph is representative of the farmer because of Joseph’s dream of the sheaves in Genesis 37:6-7.” (And yes, that is where the infamous Salvation Army evangelical street song Bringing in the Sheavescomes from that we see in old movies.) “The seven years of plenty (that we will read about when we get to chapter 40) are also representative of the farmer. The rabbis say that the enmity toward him by his brothers is from the brother’s call to shepherding contrasted with Joseph’s call as a farmer. The two careers speak of two different ways of life, as we know from the many tales of the ranchers and the framers in the old west of U.S.

“While the shepherd maintains the status quo, the farmer is out to transform the land, from grasslands, woods, and swamps into land that produces crops, returning up to one hundred fold on his labor and seed. The labor is intense and includes eleven tasks forbidden on the Sabbath. These are sowing, plowing, reaping, gathering, threshing, winnowing, sorting, grinding, sifting, kneading, and baking. Of the shepherd’s duties only shearing and the processing of wool or milk are forbidden for the Sabbath.

“With his transformation of the land, the Son of Joseph brings material blessings, while the Son of David, also known as Judah, guards the past. In Ezekiel 37:15-17 we have two sticks, one representing Judah and the other Ephraim, being joined together. Since David is a son of Judah and Ephraim a son of Joseph, the elements are there forthe merger of all believers, both Jewish and (Gentile) Christian, all segments of Judaism and Christianity coming together in a Messianic celebration.”

Ezekiel 37:15-17 “The word of the LORD came to me again saying, ¹⁶‘Moreover, you son of man, take one stick for yourself and write on it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel and his companions, then take another stick and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for the entire House of Israel, his companions. ¹⁷And join them one to another into one stick and they will become one in your hand.’”

God’s Word in so incredible, isn’t it? It truly is a tapestry of mankind’s origin, life story as a whole and eternal future. Let’s look at how Ezekiel 37:15-17, written about 600 years before Y’shua ties into not only the Lord’s Prophet Isaiah, who came about one hundred years earlier, but also John and Paul,  contemporaries of Y’shua. So we are now going to read several Scripture passages that will tie flawlessly together that span 700-800 years!

Isaiah 44:5 “One will say, I am the LORD’s, and another will call himself by the name of Jacob, and another will subscribe with his hand to the LORD and surname himself by the name of Israel.”

“One will say, I am the LORD’s,” – These are followers of Y’shua; either believing that He would come or that He has come already and will come again.

“…another will call himself by the name of Jacob,” – These are the secular Hebrews who do not follow their religious heritage but know and proudly claim their biological heritage to Abraham.

“…another will subscribe with his hand to the LORD and surname himself by the name of Israel.” – These are the religious Hebrews who have not named Y’shua as their Savior, but hold to the Laws/Teachings and Traditions of Moses.

This is how the Holy Spirit broke it down for me, and it does cover all factions of Judaism – past, present and future.

Ezekiel 34:23, “And I will set up one Shepherd over them and He will feed them, My Servant David. He will feed them, and He will be their Shepherd.” A reference to Y’shua, Who will be from the line of David, as David had been dead for about 300 years.

John 10:16 “But I also have sheep that are not of this sheepfold: and it is necessary for Me to lead those and they will hear My voice, and they will become one flock, one Shepherd.” Sound familiar?

Ezekiel 37:17 “And join them one to another into one stick and they will become one in your hand.’” AND…

Ephesians 2:14-18 “For He is our peace, the One Who has made both things into one and Who has loosed the dividing wall of the fence, cause of enmity to His flesh, ¹⁵by His nullifying the tradition of the commandments by decrees, so the He could create the two, Jewish and non-Jewish, into One New Man, establishing peace ¹⁶so He could reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, as God killed their enmity by means of Y’shua. ¹⁷And when He came He proclaimed the Good News of peace to you, to those far away, and peace to those near: ¹⁸because through Him we both have the introduction to the Father by means of one Spirit.”

Romans 11 – I am not going to write out the entire 11^th chapter of Romans, but the subtitles I have are:

                                    Verses 1-10;   The Remnant of Israel

                                    Verses 11-24; The Salvation of the Heathens

                                    Verses 25-36; The Restoration of Israel

“It is interesting that Jewish scholars say that neither Judah nor Joseph can prevail alone. The two brothers need each other because a world of Josephs would lose sight if the old in its pursuit of the new, and a world of only Judahs could trap Judaism in a web of irrelevances.”

Speaking of irrelevances, I have yet to discover how non-believing Hebrews justify the centuries long lack of animal sacrifices or the shedding of blood with the annual covering if their sins. It is explained away as not being able to use the Temple in Jerusalem since 70AD, and, as that was God’s House and He wanted no other, I get that. However, that is still, according to the Old Covenant, only part of the problem. The other and might I had major part would be that the entire Book of Leviticus gives the intricate details of the specific sacrifices needed for specific sins, so if they do not believe that the Ultimate Sacrifice has (already) been made for them, how are they holding on to YHWH’s salvation?

“Another expression of two Messiahs is with the term ‘suffering Messiah’ and ‘reigning Messiah.’ Y’shua suffered in His first coming, but will reign on His next appearance.” This again, is lost on the non-believing Hebrew, as they did not nor do not believe in the concept of the suffering Messiah since He came already and was rejected by so many of His family throughout the ages. And it is actually forbidden to read Isaiah 53, which specifically refers to His suffering and rejection. One of the strongest ploys that devil has ever succeeded in!

We can see both Judah and Joseph in His ministry, with many references to shepherding and any to being transformed. Examples if being transformed include the parables of the sower (see Matthew 13:1-9 & 18-23) and statements such as ‘You will know them by their fruit.’ (Matthew 7:16) Paul also referred to our transformation in Romans 12:2 …by the renewing of your mind.  When Y’shua reigns it seems that His reign will be like Joseph’s as the Prime Minister under the King of the Universe. Another similarity to Joseph is His physical absence from us for a season. The current Church is more under David than Joseph, being maintained more than transformed. Satanic forces still have power, much of it conceded by the Church, since very few teach and minister deliverance. Messiah’s reign will be without Satan while he is bound for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:2) Only then, without Satanic influences, will people be totally transformed and be able to be all that they can be. In that sense the current status is more like the Davidic reign and the Messianic reign will be more like the reign of Joseph. By that we can readily see that Y’shua is both Son of David and Son of Joseph, whether 2000 years ago or in His reign.”

So starts our study of Joseph, whose name means let him add. When Genesis Joseph kept the famine at bay, he kept not only the nation of Egypt alive, adding generations to them, but he also kept his own family alive and we know what that explosion led to! The Joseph of the New Testament was Y’shua’s step-father, and look at the increase he helped with through the raising of his step-son Y’shua!

Next week the trial really begins! Because “…Joseph was good looking and well favored.” Genesis 39:6b (which was not necessarily a good thing).

Shalom!

Genesis 1/13/18

GENESIS

January 13, 2018

By Pastor Kim Hickcox

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

Last week we saw how Joseph’s brothers were so petty and vicious toward their younger brother that they had no qualms about killing him, even though it would break their father’s heart also.

And to finish up on that event, Rueben played right into their hands when he left them for a while, which he must have done, as Genesis 37:29-30 says, “And Reuben returned to the pit and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit and he tore his clothes. ³⁰And he returned to his brothers and said, ‘The boy is not there! And I – where will I go?’” So the original plan stood, save for the killing of Joseph. The 9 brothers deceived both their oldest brother and their father with cruel heartache and a false sense of intense loss by dipping his tunic in blood and reporting him missing and assumed dead.

Thus we could end chapter 37 with, “And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and he said, ‘For I shall go down into the grave mourning for my son.’” (Genesis 37:35) However, the very last sentence gives us a bridge as to what is yet to come – “And the Midianites sold him to Egypt to Potipher, an officer of Pharaoh’s captain of the guard.” Genesis 37:36

Now chapter 38 is a segway unto itself, as we leave Joseph for a while to deal with his new life, but it a very important one.

Chapter 38 deals with Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar. Tamar’s bio seems pitiful as first glance, but we will see how she left an eternal legacy even though it (her legacy) had a somewhat inglorious beginning…

It seems that after the invigorating bout of dealing with his irritating little brother Judah decided to marry. Seems that he knew a man named Hirah and married his daughter – a Canaanite. He had three sons by her: Er, Onan and Shelah.  So when his oldest son was of marrying age, “Judah took a wife, whose name was Tamar, for Er his firstborn.” Genesis 38:6. I am going to call this Fatal Error #2; Fatal Error #1 being the taking of a Canaanite wife for himself in the first place.      

I’m sure his father talked to all his sons about not marrying any of the local women, as they worshipped totally different gods. However, looking at the big picture, and learning of his grandmother’s disappointment in his Uncle Esau, “And Rebeccah said to Isaac, ‘I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?’” (Genesis 27:46) he should have travelled back to his land of birth and taken it from there. But to his credit, though it be very little, he did not take a wife from the daughters of Heth. He took a “daughter of the land” from Hirah.

But again, in Judah’s defense, look at what he knew:

1.     His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were righteous men following the one true God, YHWH (Yah Weh), as he was raised to do also.

2.     However, he was born and raised for a good while in his mothers’ fathers’ house, whom the Lord let live in peace and prosperity at their departure (the beginning of chapter 32) in spite of his idolatry.

3.     And then he met his Uncle Esau, who was the leader of his people and also very blessed.

So in spite of his father’s teachings, I’m sure Judah felt it was no big deal to marry a Canaanite. After all, was he going to go back to his mother’s family? That probably didn’t seem like the best alternative after his father’s ordeal.

And his marriage must have been an amicable one as not only did he only take one wife, but he had no qualms about getting a wife for his son from the Canaanites also. However, “Er, Judah’s firstborn, was bad in the sight of the LORD and the LORD slew him.” (Genesis 38:7) Now, we don’t know what bad things he did, but he could very well have been worshipping Tamar’s god(s) instead of his own, which is the first place mind went, as the Canaanite gods had all kinds of horrible practices just involved in their worship, (like the sacrificing of children and prostitution for starters) say nothing to what they had to do to please them outside of worship!

So now Er was dead and left no heirs as we see in verses 8-10, “And Judah said to Onan, ‘Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her and raise up seed for your brother.’⁹And Onan knew that the seed would not be his and it was when he went into his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother.¹⁰And what he did displeased the LORD, so He slew him also.”

Now, what would be so bad about raising up children in his brother’s name? Well, with Er being the firstborn, that would mean that his heirs would get the lions’ share of Judah’s inheritance, which usually amounted to about two thirds of the whole, which would mean that Onan would not step into Er’s place as the eldest, but his own firstborn son would get it at Judah’s death, and he could never lay claim to it because it would legally be Er’s legacy and he would not have any children to claim as his own.

Unless of course he took another wife, which was done more often than not at the time, but he would still only be able to split the third that was left with his younger brother Shelah. However, dishonoring the LORD held even a greater loss than inheriting a sixth of his fathers’ estate, didn’t it?

So after losing two sons, (and we don’t know if he knew why or not), “Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, ‘Remain a widow at your father’s house until my son Shelah is grown.’ For he said, ‘Lest perhaps he die also, like his brothers.’” Genesis 38:11. (Shelah must have been much younger than the first two because verses 5 and 6 are worded as though Judah was collecting Tamar at Shelah’s birth: “And she yet again conceived and bore a son and called his name Shelah, and he was at Chezib when she bore him. ⁶And Judah took a wife, whose name was Tamar, for Er his firstborn.” “…Then Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.” Genesis 38:11b – and this is where the intense story begins!

“¹²And in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife died and Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheep-shearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.” Who was his daughter-in-law’s father, remember. “¹³And Tamar was told, saying, ‘Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.’ ¹⁴And she put her widow’s garments off from her, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself and sat in an open place, which was on the road to Timnah, for she saw that Shelah had grown and she was not given to him for a wife. ¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot because she had covered her face. ¹⁶And he turned to her along the way and said, ‘Come on now, let me come in to you.’ For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said to him, ‘What will you give me, that you may come in to me?’ ¹⁷And he said, ‘I shall send you a goat from the flock.’ And she said to him, ‘Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?’ ¹⁸And he said, ‘What pledge will I give you?’ And she said, ‘Your signet, your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.’ And he gave them to her and came in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹Then she got up and went away and set aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.” Genesis 38:12-19

Judah had a (or shall we say another) morality slip, but at least he was a widower AND he didn’t recognize his daughter-in-law. Then, being true to his word, “And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.” Genesis 38:20. Good thing, as it was his daughter!

So his friend came back with the report that there was not, nor has there ever been (to the best of anyone’s recollection) a harlot at that particular corner. So Judah was baffled, but not for long…

“And it was about three months later that it was told Judah saying, ‘Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot and also, behold, she is with child by harlotry.’ And Judah said, ‘Bring her forth and let her be burned.’” Genesis 38:24. Burned!? No one can ever say that Judah didn’t have a healthy dose of bad temper! As this was before Moses and any of God’s Teachings, save for a few personal revelations and covenants, stoning wasn’t a given, but obviously burning was popular.

(NOTE: Believe it or not, I just spent the last 20 minutes or so looking up Shria Law, so as not to make an erroneous statement. However, when I searched it, no matter where I clicked, it just brought me to more search topics and more search topics and more search topics – never getting a listing of the laws or penalties. I shall therefore remain silent.)

“And when she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law saying, ‘By the man whose these are, I am with child.’ And she said, ‘Discern now, whose these are; the signet, cord, and staff.’ ²⁶And Judah acknowledged them and said, ‘She has been more righteous than I because I did not give her to my son Shelah.’ And he did not go in to know her again.” Genesis 38:25-26. Well, at least he admits when he’s wrong and does the right thing thereafter.

“And it happened at the time of her travail that there were twins in her womb. ²⁸And it was, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread saying, ‘This one came out first.’ ²⁹And it happened as he drew back his hand that, behold, his brother came out and she said, ‘How vigorously you have broken forth!’ Therefore his name was called Perez (Perets).³⁰And afterward his brother came out, who had the scarlet thread on his hand and his name was called Zerah.” Genesis 38:27-30

See how important is was to be born first!? Zerah received the inheritance of the firstborn, which wouldn’t have happened had the midwife not been on her toes with the thread (which I assume was to cut the umbilical cord). Zerah means the rising of a light, or brightness. Perez means breaking out or to breach. That one didn’t take you by surprise, did it?

So now we look at Tamar’s eternal legacy: Matthew 1:3 “And Judah begot Perez and Zerach by Tamar, and Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram,”. And Luke 3:33 “of Amminadab of Admin of Arni of Hezron of Perez of Judah”.

Tamar is mentioned by name in Matthew’s Gospel. And as Matthew was a Hebrew writing to a Hebrew audience, this was special. Although I believe that Matthew was so filled with gratitude as he was formerly a Tax Collector and pretty much despised by most of the population, that he couldn’t help but to showcase God’s grace to anybody he could! (Which, in this case would be the women he named in his genealogical account of his Savior in spite of Hebrew tradition.) His initial calling is recorded by him like this: “Then when Y’shua went away from there He saw a man, called Matthew, sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, ‘You must follow Me faithfully.’ So after he got up he followed Him.” Matthew 9:9.

Being a Tax Collector, Matthew was wealthy, upper class, and at worst dishonest, at best thought to be even if he personally was not. He was working for the Romans and therefore not loved at all by his fellow Hebrews, who would have considered him a cheating traitor, as we can tell as he continues the account of his being initially called by His Messiah, “And when the Pharisees saw them they were saying to His disciples, ‘Why does your Teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners?’ ¹²Then since He heard He said, ‘The strong have no need of a physician, but those who have evil. ¹³But when you go what you must learn is, “I desire loving kindness and not sacrifice:” (quoted from Hosea 6:6, which they would all recognize) for I did not come to call the righteous but the sinners.’” Matthew 9:11-13. By the way, the ONM translates the word for sickness as evil, as that was the original Greek term used.

Y’shua also said (to the Pharisees, as a matter of fact) as recorded by Luke, speaking of the woman who anointed His feet with her tears and washed them with her hair, “…her many sins are forgiven, because she loved much: but from whom little is forgiven, he loves little.” (7:47) Therefore Matthew loved much. And therefore he includes (much to the horror of any of the Scribes who would have read it) in Y’shua’s genealogy the following women:

1.     Tamar, a Canaanite woman, and the son Perez, whom she conceived while playing a harlot to seek revenge, or at least venting her anger, on her father-in-law Judah. Another display of God’s grace that he would have Perez be a direct descendent of Y’shua as opposed to one of Shelah’s sons. Proving to all that “God so loved the WORLD, that He gave His only Son, so that EVERYONE who believes in Him would not die but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, capitalization mine for emphasis) NOT just the Hebrews NOT just the righteous. And I will end this right here, as I could follow this bunny trail for pages and pages.

2.     Rehab, the woman from Jericho who hid the spies just before her city was attacked, due to her belief in the Hebrews’ God. She had heard the talk that was going around and chose to believe it – and Him.

And she was not necessarily a prostitute, by the way. She ran a hotel (or inn) and not all hotels were brothels. You don’t think Joseph would have put Miriam, who was about to birthe the Son of God in a brothel, do you? And while we’re speaking about prostitutes, Miriam of Magdala was not one either. No one knows exactly when this ugly rumor started, but let’s put it to rest, shall we? She could have very well just been a single woman making it on her own, which could have kick started the rumor mill, but I am too…need I say more?

3.     Ruth, the Moabitess who loved her mother-in-law so much that that she not only left her homeland so she could continue to take care of her, but converted to Judaism also. “And Ruth said, ‘Do not plead with me to leave you or to return from following after you, for wherever you go, I shall go. And where you lodge, I shall lodge. Your people are my people, and your God is my God. ¹⁷Where you die, shall die and there I shall be buried: the LORD do to me, more also, if anything but death part you and me.” Ruth 1:16-17

Now the Moabites were one of the incestuous tribes started by Lot’s two corrupt daughters. Now although it was still ok for half brothers and sisters to marry (i.e.: Abraham and Sarah) as well as first cousins (such as Isaac and Rachael), only the Egyptians (as far as I know) were crass enough to marry their daughters and then we only know of it via their royalty. But as we learned, Lot’s daughters were definitely corrupted by their stay in Sodom and after their escape, got their father so drunk two nights in a row that he passed out before they fulfilled their mission, which is another hint to tell you that something wasn’t kosher.

And the Book of Ruth ends, actually making specific reference to Perez also, more than 1000 years before Matthew: “Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez begot Hezron, ¹⁹and Hezron begot Ram and Ram begot Aminadab ²⁰and Aminadab begot Nahshon and Nahshon begot Salmon ²¹and Salmon begot Boaz and Boaz begot Obed²²and Obed begot Jesse and Jesse begot David.” Ruth 4:18-22 

4.     And last, but most certainly not least we have Bathsheba, who, by way is listed not by name, but as the wife of Urriah. Don’t you just love how the Lord just put it out there – tells it as it is and then just pours His grace all over everything!?

Of all of David’s sons, He chose Solomon, Bathsheba’s son to perpetuate Messiah’s line!

You know, the only Super Saint listed in history, or His Story, is Daniel. And I can identify with Daniel – when I’ve just accomplished a giant coup against the devil. But mostly I empathize with Abraham when he was less than fully truthful (Genesis 12:14-20 & 20:1-10); or Job when he wanted to know what in the world was going on and why. Job was a whiner – and unfortunately I can be too. And then there’s Samson who gave into his flesh, messing up really bad, but finally got his act together and pulled it off in the end (Judges 13:2-16:31). Oh, and guess where Samson finds the first woman he wants to marry – Timnah! What if it was one of Tamar’s descendants? (Judges 14:1-2).  And Gideon is also listed as a great Judge, but he didn’t think so highly of himself and had to be reminded who he was in the Lord (Judges 6:11-19).

Closer to home is Peter, who the Lord told me to study – due to his propensity to put his foot in his mouth, as well as his bursts of faith and never-say-die attitude. All of which I needed to study, mind you, and should probably dive into again. And then there’s Paul, the Super Apostle with the tender underbelly that he shows us himself so often. “For I am producing what I do not know: for I do not want this that I am doing, but I hate this which I am doing. ¹⁶But if I do not want this that I do, I agree with the Torah (Teaching) because it is good. ¹⁷But now I no longer am producing this myself but the sin dwelling in me produces it. ¹⁸For I know that no good is dwelling in me, that is, in my flesh: for desire to do good is present in me, but to produce good is not:¹⁹for I do not do the good that I want to do, but I do this evil that I do not want to do….” Romans 7:15-19

So there we have it! If we could all just remember when looking at other people, not to criticize, but remember the saying I’m sure [all] our mothers taught us: There but by the grace of God, go I. The world would be a much gentler place – and we helped! “You are the light of the world. A city laid out on a mountain is not able to be hidden.”Matthew 5: 14. Now go out and blind people this week!!

SHALOM

Genesis 1/7/2018

GENESIS

January 07, 2018

By Pastor Kim Hickcox

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let’s pick up where we left off – Genesis 37:12-36.  We left Joseph boasting about the dreams that the Lord gave him and getting himself into deep trouble with all his brothers. We ended with Genesis 37:11, which says “And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the saying in his heart.” So after this, “Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers in feeding the flock in Shechem? Come and I shall send you to them.’ And he said to him, ‘Here I am.’’’ Genesis 37:13

Have you ever wondered why they still hung around Shechem? I mean after they killed every male and took everyone else captive because of their sister Dinah.  It must have been good pasture land. I looked it up to see if the name had any significance, but all it said was that it was a place in Palestine (which I refer to as Canaan). But I guess it became the spoils of war, so they grazed their flocks there. “And he said to him, ‘Please, go, and see whether it be well with your brothers and well with the flock and bring me word again.’ So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron and he came to Shechem.” Genesis 37:15

If you remember, Hebron was where Israel’s grandfather Abraham lived, hence his being called a Hebrew, it was also where his dad Isaac grew up, so we are still in the same geographical area.

So we innocently start out with a normal task; the little brother is sent to see how his big brothers are doing. What could go wrong, right? So he gets there, asks around for his brothers as he can’t find them, and is told that they packed up and went to Dothan. (Again, no specific meaning.) So (I assume) Joseph thanks the man and heads for Dothan and here is where is all goes south!

“And when they saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to slay him. ¹⁹And they said to one another, ‘Behold this dreamer is coming. ²⁰Come now therefore, let us slay him and cast him into some pit and we will say “Some awful beast has devoured him.” Then we will see what becomes of his dreams.’”  Genesis 37:18-20

Can you imagine?! Talk about petty!! They actually wanted to killtheir little brother and then break their father’s heart by telling him that his youngest son who HE sent out to check up on them was killed by a beast!!

Well, thank God for Rueben! “And Rueben heard it and he delivered him from their hands and said, ‘Let us not kill him.’²²And Rueben said to them, ‘Do not pour out blood! Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness and do not lay a hand on him,’ so he might get him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. ²³And it was when Joseph came to his brothers that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, his long tunic that was on him.²⁴And they took him and put him in a pit, and the pit was empty with no water in it.” Genesis 37:21-24. This last fact is very significant, as the pit could easily have been an old abandoned well.

Then Judah – the same Judah mind you who became so incensed when Shechem violated his sister because of how he was disgracing the Lord,  says when they see some Ishmaelite merchants coming, “‘What profit is it if we slay our brother  and conceal his blood? ²⁷Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our flesh.’” Genesis 37:26-27

What a toots!! I don’t know about you, but every time I read this passage, I thank God for my brothers! (Love you Jeff! Love you Mark!)

So is there a moral to this story?  Could be to be careful who you share your dreams with.  But more than that, I think we are starting to see a pattern:

1. Following the Lord will not necessarily make you popular or keep you out of perilous situations. Apostle Paul writes, “Five times I took forty strokes less one by the Jewish leaders, ²⁵I was beaten with a rod three times, I was stoned once, I suffered shipwreck three times, I have spent a day and a night in the deep sea: ²⁶in many journeys in danger from rivers, in dangers from robbers, in danger from my people, in dangers from heathens,  in dangers in a city, in dangers in a wilderness, in dangers in  sea, in dangers among false brothers, ²⁷in labor an in hardship, in sleepless nights many times, in famine and in thirst, many times in fasting, in cold and lack of sufficient clothing…” 2^ndCorinthians 11:24- 27
2. Rejection, at least for a while, should probably be expected. Moses was rejected, “And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married, for he had married an Ethiopian woman. ²And they said, ‘Has the LORD indeed spoken only to Moses? Has He not also spoken with us?’ And the LORD heard.  ³(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men on the face of the earth.)
   
   
   “⁴And the LORD spoke suddenly to Moses, to Aaron and to Miriam, ‘Come out you three to the Tent of Meeting.’ And the three came out. ⁵And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud in the door of the Tent. He called Aaron and Miriam and they both came forth. ⁶And He said, ‘Now hear My words! If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will make Myself known to him in a vision and will speak to him in a dream. ⁷My servant Moses is not one of those, he is faithful in all My house. ⁸I speak to him mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches, and he will see the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?’” Numbers 12:1-8 (P.S., that would settle everything for me!) And Moses turned out to be “The Law Giver” whom the pious followed even to the exclusion of their long awaited Messiah – Y’shua!

However, Y’shua told us in John 16:33 “…in this world you will have distress: but be of good courage, I have overcome the world.”

“Then the Midianites, merchantmen, passed by and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of sliver, and they brought Joseph into Egypt.” Genesis 37:28. Judas sold out our Savior for thirty pieces of silver, the slave price of the day.

We will see many more similarities between Y’shua and Joseph as from now on Genesis is his story, or, being a foreshadow, His story that Joseph was honored enough to model for us.

I pray every week on what the Holy Spirit would like to share with you, but sometimes, like today, I feel like He’s speaking to me. This week ws like a roller coaster, but God is good – ALL the time! Amen?  I hope this helped you as much as it did me. God bless you all!!

SHALOM

“AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH…”12/3012017

“AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH…”

December 30, 2017

By Pastor Kim Hickcox

(All Scripture used in this series will be from the One New Man unless otherwise noted)

The title of this year’s Christmas messages are John 1:14 BECAUSE of John 3:16, spoken by the Son Himself. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him would not die but have eternal life.” And about 2020 years ago [FYI: the monk who was assigned the project of dating the time of Y’shua’s birth messed up by 3-5 years.] it was now time to start the redemption plan He made back when He saw that Adam and Eve and their descendants needed one. And because of His LOVE, His WORD agreed to become flesh – agreed to become part of His own creation – so that He could finally bring His family home again.

And, according to the Creator of time, He came in the fullness of time. “But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, who was born of a woman, Who was under Torah (Teaching), ⁵so that He would redeem those under legalism, so that they could take the adoption.” Galatians 4:4-5

There are SO MANY supernatural events that accompanied His incarnation with His timing just scratching the surface. And I just discovered another totally wonderful detail this year. As everyone who has ever watched the Charlie Brown Christmas Special knows, what Christmas is all about is that “shepherds were in this field, living out of doors and keeping watch by night over their flock. ⁹And an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared a great fear.¹⁰Then the angel said to them, ‘You must not be afraid, for behold I have good news for you, great joy which will be for all people,¹¹because this day in the city of David a Savior was born for you, Who is Messiah, Lord. ¹²And this will be a sign to you, you will find an infant wrapped and lying in a stall.’ ¹³Then suddenly there were with the angel a great number of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, ¹⁴‘Glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace and good will among men.’” Luke 2:8-14

BUT do you know who’s shepherds these were? These were not just ordinary shepherds; they were the priest’s shepherds! They were watching over the flock the priests kept (for themselves or for those who came to sacrifice and needed to buy a sheep when they arrived). That for me puts a whole new spin on things. And also makes me wonder if any of them were still alive 30 years later when Y’shua appeared on the public scene.

So with the angels’ announcements to Mary and Elizabeth as a precursor, let’s examine the prophetic Word of God to fully KNOW that Y’shua IS Messiah:

HE WILL BE FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH

Genesis 49:10 “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor a Torah scholar from between his feet, until Shiloh comes: and the gathering of the peoples will be to Him.” Written prophetically by Moses over 5000 years before Y’shua’s arrival on earth.

This symbolism is rich: the scepter of course means that the royal leadership will always belong to Judah. The Torah scholar meaning that Judah will always be loyal to the Lord and Shiloh is a composite of the words Sh’ and loh meaning a gift to him in reference to the King Messiah to Whom all nations will bring their gifts.

Proven true by:

Matthew 1:1-16 “A scroll of the genealogy of Y’shua Messiah, Son of David, Son of Abraham. ²Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Judah and his brothers…”

Luke 3:23-38 “Then Y’shua was beginning His ministry at about thirty years old, being a Son, as it was thought, of Joseph…³³of Amminadab of Admin of Arni of Hezron of Perez of Judah ³⁴of Jacob of Isaac of Abraham…”

HE WILL BE FROM THE LINEAGE OF KING DAVID

Isaiah 9:6-7 “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government is upon His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonder, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷And of the increase of His government and Shalom there will be no end, upon the throne of David and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and acts of loving kindness from now and even forever more. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will perform this.” (verses 5-6 in the ONM) Written prophetically by Isaiah 700 years before Y’shua’s incarnation on earth.

Proven true by:

Luke 3:23-38 “…of Maleah of Menna of Mattatha of Nathan of David ³²of Jesse…”

Matthew 1:1-17 “…and Jesse begat David the king…¹⁷Therefore all generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David until the Babylonian captivity are fourteen generations, and from the Babylonian captivity until the Messiah are fourteen generations.”

HE WILL BE GOD’S SON

Psalm 2:7 “I shall declare the decree: the LORD said to me, You are My Son. This day I have begotten You.” No one knows the author of this Psalm, but they were all written approximately from 1000 – 400 BC.

Proven true by:

Matthew 3:13-17 “Then Y’shua came from Galilee across the Jordan to John to be immersed…¹⁷and there was a voice from the heavens saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, with Whom I am well pleased.’”

Luke 3:23-38 “Then Y’shua was beginning His ministry at about thirty years old, being a Son, as it was thought, of Joseph…³⁸of Enos of Seth of Adam of God.”

Acts 13:32-33 “And we are bringing you the Good News, the promise that was made to our fathers, ³³that God has fulfilled this for their children, since He raised Y’shua for us as it has also been written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’”

HE WILL BE BIRTHED BY A VIRGIN

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (NKJV) Written prophetically by Isaiah 700 years before Y’shua’s incarnation on earth.

Proven true by:

Matthew 1:18-23 “And Y’shua Messiah was born in this manner. While His mother Miriam was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to have been made pregnant by the Holy Spirit…²²And all this had happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, ‘Behold the virgin will be pregnant and will bear a Son, and they will call His name Emanuel.’”

Luke 1:26-38 “…the angel Gabriel was sent down from God to a city in Galilee by the name of Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin betrothed to a man by the name of Joseph… ³⁵‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you and power of the Most High will cover you: for this reason then the Holy One Who is birthed will be called the Son of God…”

HE WILL BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM

Micah 5:2 (vs 1 in ONM) “But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you One will come forth to Me Who is to be ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”  

Proven true by:

Matthew 2:1-6 “And after Y’shua was born in Bethlehem…⁴and gathering all the high priests and scribes of the people he inquired from them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵And they said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea…’”

Luke 2:1-7 “…⁴And Joseph went up from Galilee from the city of Nazareth to Judea to a city of David, which is called Bethlehem…⁶And it happened while they were there the days were completed for her to bear the Child. ⁷And she delivered her Son, the Firstborn, and she wrapped Him and she laid Him in a manger, because there was not a place for them in the inn.”

Is Y’shua God? Yes He is. The wonderful details about the night of His birth are captured by Luke 2:1-21 – always a good read! And why did He arrive at night? When else would the Light of the World need to appear?

SHALOM &

HAPPY NEW YEAR!